Batman Beyond: Alliances
by Artemicion
Summary: A big crime wave has hit Gotham and Batman and the Gotham Police have more than they can handle on their hands. At the same time, a shadowy organization is moving in. Batman wonders if it's time for one of the other batsuits to be donned once again...
1. Trouble's Prelude

Batman Beyond: Alliances  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Batman, wish I did, but...:: sigh::.  
  
Author's Notes: This is my first fic on Batman. I just got the movie and I just loved it! It inspired me to write a fic on it.  
  
  
Chapter 1: Trouble's Prelude  
  
A veil of deep indigo covered Gotham City as the night gained ground on the disappearing light. The city was plunged into a world of shadows. This was the only time those shunned by society emerged to cause chaos to their desires. Such a gang was the infamous Jokerz, a ragtag crew named after the famous psychopath who had recently threatened the troubled city only months ago.  
  
"SOMEONE! HELP US PLEASE!" a blonde woman cried out hysterically as she and a little boy fled down an alley. Mad laughter echoed down the alley, blending with the whirring sound of a hover bike. Her eyes widened in terror at the sounds.  
  
"HAHAHAHAHA! Where you goin' lady? We ain't done with you!" the lead Joker on the first hover bike taunted. His mad smile had an eerie edge to it because of the white face paint.  
  
"Leave us alone," the woman cried. She tripped over a box and sprawled painfully to the ground.  
  
"Mommy!" the little boy screamed.  
  
The woman scrambled to her feet, but the Jokerz were already bearing down on her and her son. A girl dressed in a pink and green clown suit jumped down from one of the hover bikes. A pair of Jokerz dressed in tacky colors followed her. Then the leader jumped down, swinging a chain.  
  
"Hold it, little mama. You're not going anywhere!" the lead Joker declared and then began twirling the chain threateningly.  
  
"Give us all your credits and jewels and we might just leave half pint here in one piece!" the girl purred as she grabbed the woman's boy.  
  
The woman threw down her purse and sobbed hysterically. "Here! Take it all! Leave us alone! Please!"  
  
"What about it crew? Do we...leave her alone?" the lead Joker grinned maliciously. "Or shut her up for good? What do you say Jem? Deck? Wick?"  
  
The girl chuckled. "I say we take care of her, Cork. She might be trouble. HAHAHAHA!"  
  
Suddenly, a new voice broke in, "Is this a private party or can anyone crash?"  
  
"What the-" Cork began but abruptly cut off when a figure dressed in black flew at him and slammed his feet into the Joker's chest.  
  
"It's the bat! Get him!" Jem cried and pulled out a baton of some sort hidden in her knee high boots. Sparks shot out of the ends of it like wild flames. She swung wildly at the Dark Knight but missed.  
  
Batman recoiled off of the wall and slammed into her. His fist dug into her stomach and sent her careening back into Cork and Deck, making all three of them sprawl onto the ground. Wick gave a feral cry and rushed at Batman with a metal pipe he had pulled off of the wall.  
  
"Eat this!" He yelled as he swung it like a baseball bat.  
  
"I'm not hungry!" Batman grunted and ducked easily. Before the Joker could recover, Batman brought his fist up in a powerful uppercut to his chin. As the startled Joker stumbled back, Batman jumped, whirled mid air and executed a spin kick into the Wick's chest. He flew back and crashed painfully into some trashcans.  
  
Suddenly, a chain shot at him out of no where and wrapped several times around his neck. Batman clawed at it and turned slightly to find Cork pulling at it to tighten the chokehold he had on him. Jerking his head in the direction of the woman and her boy, Batman choked out, "Get...away...now!"  
  
She didn't need another hint. Grabbing her son, the woman fled. With her out of the way, Batman had become the main attraction for the Jokerz. Grasping the chain tightly and trying desperately to breathe, Batman tugged back with all his might.  
  
"Whoa!" Cork yelled as he was jerked towards Batman. The Dark Knight brought his knee up abruptly and smashed it into Cork's face. He fell to the ground with a thud.  
  
Batman looked up in time just to see a boot coming straight for his face. He let out a painful oof as he slid back and crashed into a pile of boxes. Immediately, Jem and Wick tried to move in to get him. Firing up his rocket boots, Batman sailed out of the way just as the two Jokerz pounced at met the ground instead...hard.  
  
Opening his wings, Batman hovered above the Jokerz. With a casual flick of his wrist a Batarang slid into his hand. Aiming it carefully, the Dark Knight threw it at Jem. She jumped back, but the Batarang hit the pole behind her, ricocheted to hit a wall, hit a trashcan, and then came flying back towards her hands. With a cry, Jem dropped the flaming baton as soon as the Batarang made contact.  
  
"Why you-AHHHHH!" Jem cried as Batman jump kicked her into the wall, promptly knocking her out cold.  
  
He narrowed his eyes when he noticed that Cork was trying to hit him from behind with the chain. Casually holding up a hand Batman smirked. "Nuh uh uh-uh!"  
  
The Dark Knight flew up and then moved himself so that he landed right behind Cork. The Joker leader looked confused, looking back and forth for Batman. He felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning, he found a grinning figure dressed in black and a fist flying straight for his face.  
  
Batman stood straighter and looked around, making sure they were all out. Wailing sirens suddenly could be heard. A spotlight appeared on the ground. Batman looked up and was relieved to see that the Gotham Police had finally came. He tapped on a button on his belt and called for the Bat Mobile.  
  
"Man, what a night," Batman sighed.  
  
"It's not over yet," the old, but still sharp voice of Bruce Wayne reminded him through the audio link.   
  
"You're kidding," Batman groaned.  
  
"Afraid not. There's a disturbance on 3rd Pine Avenue. South," Wayne said.  
  
"Man! This has got to be the fifth one tonight!" Batman said and changed directions.  
  
"Sixth, actually. What did you expect, Terry? It's a crime wave," Wayne told him in his droll monotone.  
  
"How's Barbara handling it?" Batman asked, moving his neck around to work the cramps out of it.  
  
"The Gotham PD has been busy day and night for the last two weeks. This is a huge crime wave and word on the street has it that a new gang might be moving into Gotham," Wayne paused. "You know what that means."  
  
"Yeah. I guess all my homework will have to wait until next week," Batman answered. He stretched his arms and rotated his shoulders experimentally.   
  
"What can I say. Life's tough, Kid," Wayne snorted.  
  
Batman, despite his fatigue from fighting all night long, grinned a little. He could practically see the nearly humorless smile on Bruce Wayne's wise face. It was so rare that whenever it was seen, Batman was surprised photographers didn't jump out and snap photos for the local newspaper.  
  
As the Bat Mobile stealthily rounded the corner of a line of buildings, Batman spied smoke rising out from one of the buildings. Alarms were going off. Men dressed in dark clothes and masks were fleeing from the broken windows in a rush.  
  
"Here goes round six, ladies and gentlemen," Batman sighed and ejected himself from the Bat Mobile's seat. For some reason, he had a feeling that this was going to be a long night.  
  
  
A/N: How did I do? I'm not used to writing Batman yet so sorry if it's out of character or something. Read and Review!   
  



	2. New Faces

Batman Beyond: Alliances  
  
A/N: Wow, thank you all so much for the reviews! I didn't expect anything to really come out of this fic, but I was encouraged to continue after reading all the nice responses I got. Someone even liked it enough to put it on his or her Batman Beyond site! That is so kewl!!  
  
  
Chapter 2: New Faces  
  
History was such a bore. No matter how hard he tried, Terry McGinnis just couldn't keep his eyes open as the teacher went on and on about the founders of Gotham City. Of course it didn't help that he had been out all night fighting crime, but Terry preferred to blame his sleepiness on school. Terry's eyelids began to droop. The teenager abruptly shook his head to rouse himself.  
  
Terry sat at his desk, face hidden behind his laptop and arms arranged into a cradle. It was so tempting... His eyelids began to droop again for about the hundredth time. This time, Terry gave into his weariness and rested his head in his arms and fell fast asleep.  
  
"A-HEM!"  
  
Startled by the sudden indignant sound right near his desk, Terry jerked his head up and looked around in confusion. A very stern looking teacher stood right next to where he sat, arms crossed.  
  
"I'm sorry if History bores you Mr. McGinnis, but as long as you're in my class, you will stay awake and listen. That or I give you and F and you can sleep all you want in detention," Mr. Mason said, frowning.  
  
"Detention doesn't sound so bad," Terry muttered a bit grumpily.  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"Er...sorry Sir. I'll pay attention."  
  
"See that you do. Now, class, as I was saying, George M. Gotham was the one who..."  
  
Terry yawned and glanced at the clock. He frowned when he saw that there was at least half an hour left of the class. The next thirty minutes seemed the longest in his life as he waited out the clock in a dazed, drowsy state. Then, finally, the bell rang.  
  
Gathering his books and yawning yet again, Terry failed to notice the feisty brunette saunter up to him. Dana Tan scowled, tugging indignantly at her blue dress and waiting for Terry to turn around and take notice of her. Terry did all right. In fact, he almost ran right into her but stopped abruptly when he realized that his girlfriend was frowning at him furiously.  
  
"Uh-hey Dana," Terry said sleepily.  
  
"Hey Dana? HEY Dana?! Where were you for our date, McGinnis?" Dana demanded.  
  
"Huh? What-oh! Sorry I didn't show up. Mr. Wayne had some really important things for me to do," Terry quickly said, thinking what an understatement that was.  
  
Before Dana could say anything else, a new voice smoothly interrupted. "Oh, it was my fault, Dana. Terry called and asked me to tell you, but I got hung up and forgot."  
  
Terry turned and threw an appreciative glance to the sexy teenager approaching them. It was Max, his best friend and one of the only ones who knew of his secret identity. The ebony-skinned girl with close-cropped pink hair easily entered their conversation and smiled apologetically at Dana.  
  
"I'm really sorry, Dana. It was an emergency and Mr. Wayne really needed Terry to run an errand for him," Max told her in a very convincing tone. Dana looked unsure for a second but then seemed to relax and shrug it off. Terry felt a little guilty for lying to her, but there was no way she could know.  
  
"Sometimes I think you and Mr. Wayne lead secret lives or something," Dana teased and smiled a little.  
  
Max laughed. Terry almost rolled his eyes at the irony of it all. If only you knew, Dana. If only you knew...  
  
"Well, I've got to get going. Blade and I are going dancing later. Are you two going to join us?" Dana said.  
  
"Nah, maybe next time. I've got a project to do for Mr. Julias," Max answered.  
  
Dana looked at Terry. "What about you, Ter?"  
  
"If Mr. Wayne doesn't need me, I'll be there," Terry said even though he already doubted that would be the case. Not with a crime wave going on, anyway.  
  
"Ok, then. I'll see you later," Dana gave him a brief kiss on the lips and then bounded off.  
  
"So do you honestly think Mr. Wayne's going to give you any time to breath tonight?" Max asked dubiously.  
  
Terry sighed. "With what's going on? I'm lucky to get the time off for school."  
  
Max smiled sympathetically. They rounded a corner and someone slammed into Terry and dropped a bunch of books. Instinctively, he held up his hands in self-defense. He lowered them when he realized it was only some girl now sitting on the floor with her books strewn about.  
  
"Oh! I'm so sorry! I should have been watching where I was going and I wasn't and-" the girl chattered quickly.  
  
"Whoa! Whoa! Calm down, it's okay! Are you okay?" Terry said as he helped her pick up her books and looked up at her face. He didn't recognize her but already, he could tell she was a nerdy or brainy type. She had blond hair pulled back into a sloppy bun and a few wisps falling on her forehead. Pretty brown eyes looked at him behind thick, black-rimmed glasses. She was dressed in a bright orange dress with green zigzags all over it and penny loafers. Where was this girl from? Some other planet?  
  
"Yes! I'm fine! I'm used to falling down so much. As you can see, I'm a really big klutz. I can't go anywhere without running into someone or something and then falling over and knocking things down. It gets really frustrating but I usually turn out okay," she babbled so quickly Terry almost didn't catch everything she said. "My name's Raine. Raine Deluca, by the way."  
  
"Nice to meet you. I'm Max and this is Terry," Max replied. "Are you new here? I don't think I've ever seen you around before."  
  
Raine nodded, smiling brightly. "Sure am! I just moved here a few days ago. I-yikes! Is that Mr. Mason, the History teacher?"  
  
Terry turned and saw his History teacher walking out of his classroom. "Yea, why?"  
  
"I have to talk to him! Sorry, it was nice meeting you, but I have to go!" With that, Raine ran off in Mr. Mason's direction. Terry watched as she went too fast, slid, and crashed right into the teacher. Both of them ended up sprawled on the floor, their things all spread out around them. Raine began apologizing profusely to the now irate teacher.  
  
"Weird girl," Max remarked dryly. "What is she wearing?"  
  
"You're not kidding," Terry answered. He was about to go help the two on the floor when his cell phone rang. Terry groaned as he reached for it. "Oh brother. Yeah?"  
  
"There's trouble. Suit up and get out there. The Bat Mobile is on its way," Wayne ordered immediately.  
  
"Already? But it's still daytime!" Terry cried, reaching automatically for the Bat suit.  
  
"Tell that to the criminals," Wayne simply said.  
  
Terry sighed. "I'm on my way."  
  
He clicked off his phone and turned to find Max eyeing him sympathetically. "Duty calls?"  
  
"Crime never sleeps in this city," Terry mumbled, imitating something he'd heard Commissioner Barbara Gordon say once. "I got to go. I'll talk to you later Max."  
  
"Be careful, Ter!" He heard Max call after him as he dashed away.  
  
  
Across town, a black limousine smoothly slid to a stop in front of a tall apartment building. A pair of large men dressed in chic black suits and dark sunglasses stepped out from the two front seats and walked around to the back door. One opened the door and waited.  
  
Slowly, a leather clad woman with a cold, deadly expression on her face slid out of the limousine and quickly took in her surroundings. A pudgy man, clinging onto his long trench coat as if it would protect him followed her. Then a final figure emerged from the vehicle.  
  
He was a tall, middle aged man. Broad shoulders and a strong muscular face framed by dark black hair were the most distinct features about him. His odd yellow tinted eyes scanned the place and brought a small, almost evil, smile to his lips.   
  
"Well now, what do you think?" He asked softly.  
  
"It's kind of...quiet. It must be dull," the woman commented.  
  
"Life here must be boring. I say we spice it up a little!" the man said excitedly.  
  
The lead man smiled, seemingly pleased with their answers. "The Boss will be very pleased with this place. You two are right. Since this place is so dull, we'll do the honors of making things a little more interesting."  
  
"What about Batman? He might be a problem," the woman asked.  
  
The lead man looked at her. "Batman? Forget about him. He's not the one we need to worry about."  
  
"Who then?" the other man asked.  
  
"Who else would I be talking about?" the lead man asked, and watched in amusement as the two exchanged nervous glances. "That's right, she's here...in Gotham."  
  
  
A/N: Sorry if it's a little confusing right now, but I'm still trying to get everything together. Anyway, I hoped you liked it! R/R! 


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